The 2002 Gujarat violence was a series of communal riots that took place in the Indian State of Gujarat in February-May 2002, involving violence between Hindus and Muslims.

The official estimates of the death toll tabled in the Indian parliament report 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus killed, as well as 223 people missing and 2,548 injured. The report placed the number of riot widows at 919 and 606 children were declared orphaned.^[1][2][3] There are human rights groups which believed that the death tolls were higher, in the upwards of 1000 and up to 2000.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]} The United States Congressional Research Service also places the figure at "up to 2000, mostly Muslim".^[10] Tens of thousands were displaced from their homes because of the violence. Only after the violence subsided in the month of May did a significant fraction of the displaced returned to the affected regions.

The then ruling BJP party maintained that the events occurred as retaliation for the burning to death, on February 27, 2002 of 58 Hindu pilgrims, mostly women and children, allegedly by a Muslim mob. This attack also resulted in the injury of 43 Hindus. ^[11][12]

Several international news media agencies, governments, non-governmental organizations and human rights advocacy groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have reported on the riots. Some of them have referred to the incidents as a "massacre". They have also been critical of the Gujarat government's responses, to the point of alleging it's complicity in the riots. Organizations such as Human Rights Watch further criticize the Indian government for failure to address the resulting humanitarian condition of people, "overwhelming majority of them Muslim",who fled their homes for relief camps in the aftermath of the event. ^[13] In turn, some have accused these news media agencies, non-governmental organizations and human rights advocacy groups of media bias and bias against Hindus^{[14][15][16][17]}.

Godhra train burning

Fifty eight people, including 25 women and 15 children^[18] were burnt alive in a railway coach in the town of Godhra following an altercation between local Muslims and Kar Sevaks returning by the Sabarmathi express train from Ayodhya.^[19]

Initial media reports blamed the Muslim protesters for setting the coach on fire,^[20] in what Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Giriraj Kishore alleged was a "pre-planned" attack.^[21][22]

The images from the train burning were broadcast in print as well as the electronic media, especially in local Gujarati language newspapers.^[23]

The bodies of those killed in the train were brought to Ahmedabad, where a funeral procession was held,^[24] a move seen as a major provocation for the ensuing communal violence.^[25]

The timings of the arrival of the dead bodies to the state capital Gandhinagar were advertised on the radio may have contributed to a very large turnout of people in an already charged atmosphere.^{[citation needed]} The Vishwa Hindu Parishad issued a call for a state-wide strike on February 28 2002.^[26] That strike was later supported by the ruling BJP government.^[27]

Post Godhra violence

151 towns and 993 villages^[28] in fifteen to sixteen of the state's 25 districts were affected by the post-Godhra violence, which was particularly severe in about five or six districts. The violence raged largely between February 28 and March 3, and after a drop, restarted on March 15, continuing till mid June.^[29] Northern and central Gujarat, as well as the north-eastern tribal belt where Hindutva mobilisation efforts were strong, were the worst affected while Saurashtra and Kutch remained largely peaceful.^[28]

The first incidents of attacks on the minority Muslim community started at Ahmedabad, where Hindus began throwing stones at and later burned a Muslim housing complex known as Gulburg Society, and then spread elsewhere.^[30] The initial violence was believed to be instigated by unsubstantiated rumours, endorsed by a senior VHP leader, of Muslims having kidnapped three Hindu girls during the Godhra train attack.^[30] Thirty three towns of the state were severely affected and had to be placed under curfew at one point or another during this period. According to allegations made by Human Rights Watchs report compiled by Smita Narula, Muslim monuments like mosques and tombs were demolished,and at some places temples erected over them ^{[31] [32][32]}. U.K newspaper "The Guardian" reported that "two hundred and thirty different Islamic monuments, including a 400-year-old mosque were destroyed or vandalized" which "Right-wing Hindu scholars justified saying that India's Muslim Emperors had demolished Hindu temples to build mosques", so the gangs who tore down the Muslim shrines were merely "redeeming the past" ^[33].

Attacks on Muslims

In Naroda, according to Human Rights Watch, at least 65 Muslims were killed, many of them women who were sexually assaulted by violent mobs[12]. One of the witnesses alleged before the Nanavati commission that that BJP leader Maya Kodnani, Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi and others led mobs on February 28 in the Naroda-Patia area. ^[34]

A high profile case involved an Ex-Congress MP Ehsan Jafri who was surrounded by Hindu Mobs (including Congress workers) while many other Muslim residents in the area took shelter in his compound. JAfri was believed to have contacted the local police stations, MPs of the area as well as the Chief Minister Modi to save the people from the ever increasing mob. However, no police reinforcement had reached his place and the few policemen present were ineffective and unwilling to control the violent mob." Eventually he was burnt to death, along with fifty others.^[35]

According to HRW in its widely-quoted report, mobs of "thousands" (including people from "secular" parties), dressed in "saffron scarves and khaki shorts" - the signature uniform of the RSS - and "armed with swords, sophisticated explosives, and gas cylinders", were guided by voter lists and printouts of addresses of Muslim-owned properties, information obtained from the local municipal administration^[36]. The report further charged that in some cases members of the state police force "led" the mobs, "aiming and firing at every Muslim who got in the way", or instead of offering assistance "led the victims directly into the hands of their killers"^[36]. Calls for assistance to the police, fire brigades, and even ambulance services generally proved futile^[36].

In a guest-contributed paper published by the South Asia Analysis Group, Arvin Bahl, a Princeton University undergraduate student alleges that the HRW report was biased and exaggerated. He also acknowledges the role of Hindu extremist groups, the VHP and the Bajrang Dal, in the violence as well as the the complicity of the Narendra Modi government.^[37]

Fourteen people, including women and children, were killed by a mob at the Best Bakery in the town of Vadodara on the night of 1 March.^[38]

On March 3, fourteen members of Bilkis Bano's family including her two-month old daughter were killed in a mob attack near Chapparwad village in Dahod district. Seven women including Bilkis Bano, then five months pregnant, were raped.^[39][40][41]

Attacks on Hindus

Attacks on Hindus by Muslim mobs in Danilimda, Modasa, Himmatnagar, Bharuch, Sindhi Market, Bhanderi Pole, and other localities in the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat were perpetrated by Muslim mobs ^[42]. The attacks have been described as "retaliatory" by Human Rights Watch. There was no significant loss of life and property ^{[43] [44]}. and some Hindu Dalits were rendered homeless^[45].

Ashok Patel, a BJP member and municipal corporator, testified before the Nanavati-Shah commission that Muslims in the Amraiwadi area unfurled the Pakistani flag and raised pro-Pakistan slogans ten days after the Godhra riots.

In September 2002, at least 29 people were killed when Islamic fundamentalist gunmen engaged in the Akshardham Temple attack in the city of Gandhinagar in Gujarat. The Pakistani ISI and Islamic terrorist group Lashkar-e-Toiba were accused of supporting the terrorists ^[46], but they have denied this accusation ^{[47] [48][49]}.

According to the HRW report, over one hundered Hindus were made homeless as a result of the Gujarat violence. ^[42] In several residential areas, including Mahajan No Vando, Hindus were targeted following calls for retaliation.

In the morning the mosques began announcing that Islam was in danger, that there was poison in the milk. This is their code word. We are the only Hindus here, poison here means us. The rioting lasted between 2:15 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.^[42]

Many Hindus fortified their residential areas and did not leave them to go to work, following a young man being killed on the way to work by Muslim mobs.^[42]

In August 2002 a plot by Lashkar-e-Toiba to assassinate Narendra Modi, Praveen Togadia, and other Sangh Parivar leaders was unearthed by Indian police. Delhi Police Special Commissioner K. K. Paul noted their motive was to

take revenge for the "injustices caused to [the] Muslims in Gujarat^[50]

Role of government and police

The Modi led state government was reprimanded at various levels including the Parliament, Supreme Court and internationally. The upper house of the Indian parliament unanimously passed a resolution calling for federal intervention in Gujarat, after a similar censure motion in the lower house was defeated by about 100 votes.^[51]

According to New York Times reporter Celia Dugger, witnesses were "dismayed by the lack of intervention from local police", who often "watched the events taking place and took no action against the attacks on Muslims and their property".^[52]

Hindu residents of Mahajan No Vando, part of the Muslim dominated area of Jamalpur, told HRW that on March 1, the police ignored phone calls and left them fend for themselves when a Muslim mob attacked.^[42] Numerous calls by Hindus throughout the riots were reportedly ignored by the police.^[42]

An unidentified pamphlet circulated to journalists in Gujarat in 2007 labelled Modi's government as anti-Hindu for arresting VHP workers and Hindu activists involved in the riots.^[53]

RB Sreekumar, who served as Gujarat's intelligence chief during the riots, alleged that the state government issued "unconstitutional directives", with officials asking him to kill Muslims involved in rioting or disrupting a Hindu religious event. The Gujarat government denied the allegations, calling them "baseless" and instigated out of malice because Mr. Sreekumar was not promoted.^[54]

One thousand army troops were flown in by the evening of March 1 to restore order. Intelligence officials alleged that the deployment was deliberately delayed by the state and central governments.^[55] On May 3, former Punjab police chief K P S Gill was appointed as security adviser to the Chief Minister.^[56]

The United States Department of State in its International Religious Freedom Report 2003 stated:

The Gujarat state government and the police were criticized for failing to stop the violence, and in some cases participating in or encouraging it. NGOs report that police were implicated directly in nearly all the attacks against Muslims in Gujarat, and in some cases, NGOs contend, police officials encouraged the mob. The Government dispatched the NHRC to investigate the attacks against Muslims, but the NHRC's findings that the attacks against Muslims "was a comprehensive failure on the part of the state government to control the persistent violation of rights of life, liberty, equality, and dignity of the people of the state," led to widespread criticism in the Hindu community and allegations of government partiality.

^[57]

In 2003, A comment by G.T. Nanavati, who leads the official commission investigating the riots, that part of the evidence collected and reviewed till then did not indicate any serious lapse on the part of the government or police in Gujarat^[58][59] was criticised as inappropriate by aid and reconciliation activists and other jurists.^[60][61]

In response to allegations of state involvement, Gujarat government spokesman, Bharat Pandya, told the BBC that the rioting was a spontaneous Hindu backlash fuelled by widespread anger against Muslims. He said "Hindus are frustrated over the role of Muslims in the on-going violence in Indian-administered Kashmir and other parts of India" ^[62].

The US Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, John Hanford, expressed concern over religious intolerance in Indian politics, said that while the rioters may have been aided by state and local officials, "we don't believe that the Central Government even under the BJP Government was involved in inciting those riots." ^[63]

Responses

The BJP government has defended the actions of Narendra Modi's administration against charges of 'genocide'. They said that the killing of 254 Hindus, mostly in police firing, indicates how the state authorities took effective steps to curb the violence.^[64] In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Home Affairs Sriprakash Jaiswal confirmed the Hindu death toll in the incident(s).

BJP MP and journalist Balbir Punj disputed allegations of bias against Muslims by the BJP-run state government, pointing out that the majority of the arrestees during and after the riots were Hindus.^[65].

Criminal prosecutions

The Indian Supreme Court has been strongly critical of the state government's investigation and prosecution of those accused of violence during the riots, directing police to review about 2,000 of the 4,000 riot related cases that had been closed citing lack of evidence or leads.^[66] Following this direction, police identified nearly 1,600 cases for reinvestigation, arrested 640 accused and launched investigations against 40 police officers for their failures.^[67][68]

Human Rights Watch alleges ^[69] that state and law enforcement officials harass and intimidate^[70] key witnesses, NGOs, social activists and lawyers who are fighting to seek justice for riot victims.

In its 2003 annual report, Amnesty International says, "the same police force that was accused of colluding with the attackers was put in charge of the investigations into the massacres, undermining the process of delivery of justice to the victims."^[71]

The Best Bakery murder trial received wide attention after witnesses retracted testimony in court and all accused were acquitted. The Indian Supreme Court, acting on a petition by social activist Teesta Setalvad, ordered a retrial outside Gujarat in which nine accused were found guilty in 2006.^[72] A key witness, Zaheera Sheikh, who repeatedly changed her testimony during the trials and the petition was found guilty of perjury.^[73]

After a local court closed the case, Bilkis Bano approached the National Human Rights Commission and petitioned the Supreme Court, which directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to take over the investigation, transferred the case out of Gujarat and directed the central government to appoint the public prosecutor.^[40][41] Charges were filed against 19 people as well as six police officials and a government doctor over their role in the initial investigations.^[39]

In 2005, the Vadodara fast track court acquitted 108 people accused of murdering two youths, during a mob attack on a group of displaced Muslims returning under police escort to their homes in Avdhootnagar. The court passed strictures against the police for failing to protect the people under their escort^[74] and failing to identify the attackers they had witnessed.^[75]

Nine people were convicted of killing a Hindu man and injuring another during group clashes in Danilimda, Ahmedabad on April 12, while 25 others were acquitted.^[76]

Eight people, including a VHP leader and a member of the BJP, were convicted for the murder of seven members of a family and the rape of two minor girls in the village of Eral in Panchmahal district.^[77][78]

Fifty two people from Pavagadh and Dhikva villages in Panchmahal district were acquitted of rioting charges for lack of evidence.^[79]

A stringent anti-terror law, the POTA, was used by the Gujarat government to charge 131 people in connection to the Godhra train fire, but not invoked in prosecuting any of the accused in the post-Godhra riots.^[80][81] In 2005 the POTA Review Committee set up by central government to review the application of the law opined that the Godhra accused should not be tried under the provisions of POTA.^[82]

Role of Hindu nationalist organisations

Some independent reports have held the Sangh Parivar organisations to be responsible for orchestrating the riots.

Muslims in Ahmedabad alleged that there were elements of planning in the violence.^[83] Human Rights Watch alleges that the mobs had obtained from municipal offices detailed lists of Muslim-owned homes and businesses which were then attacked.^[84][85]

The People's Union for Civil Liberties allege that pamphlets were circulated by the Sangh Parivar to incite violence against and call for an economic boycott of the Muslim community.^[86]

Shortly after the riots, when most Muslims were still in relief camps, a leaflet campaign "urging Hindus to boycott Muslim-owned shops and other establishments" was widely reported.^[87][88] The leaflets urged the Hindu reader not to frequent Muslim-owned restaurants, work in Muslim-run offices, hire Muslims or see films starring Muslim actors; they further assured the reader that the boycott would "throttle these elements. It will break their backbone. Then it will be difficult for them to live in any corner of this country."^[87] The economic boycott and "pressure from Hindu radicals" caused fewer employers to re-hire returning Muslims.^[88] No group claimed direct responsibility for the leaflets but a senior official of Viswha Hindu Parishad (VHP) was quoted as saying he was "in complete agreement with whatever is propagated through them."^[87]

As a consequence of the leaflet campaign, observers claimed that ten months ^[89], a year^[90] and even two and half years later^[91], the economic boycott of Muslims was still severe in many parts of the state. As a consequence of the boycott and continued threats, relief organisations lamented that they were having to build "ghettoes" for the displaced.^[92]. However, many Muslims have welcomed the post-riots stability^[93], which has allowed for economic prosperity^[94] for Muslims in some areas^[95], as well as being a catalyst for encouraging education among the Muslim populace^[96].

Public enquiries

Shah-Nanavati commission

On March 6, the Gujarat government set up a commission of enquiry headed by retired High Court judge K.G. Shah to enquire into the Godhra train burning and the subsequent violence and submit a report in three months.^[97] Following criticism from victims' organisations, activists and political parties over Shah's alleged proximity to the BJP, on May 22, the government reconstituted the commission, appointing retired Supreme Court Justice G.T. Nanavati to lead the commission.^[98][99]

National Human Rights Commission

In its Proceedings of 1 April 2002, the Commission had set out its Preliminary Comments and Recommendations on the situation and sent a Confidential Report of the team of the Commission that visited Gujarat from 19 March-22 March 2002 to Gujarat government and Central Home Ministry. The Gujarat government in its reply did not provide its response to the Confidential report. Therefore, the Commission was compelled to release the confidential report in its entirety^[100] and observed that nothing in the reports received in response "rebuts the presumption that the Modi administration failed in its duty to protect the rights of the people of Gujarat" by not exercising its jurisdiction over non-state players that may cause or facilitate the violation of human rights.

It further observed that "the violence in the State, which was initially claimed to have been brought under control in seventy two hours, persisted in varying degree for over two months, the toll in death and destruction rising with the passage of time despite the measures reportedly taken by the State Government".

The report claims failure of intelligence, failure to take appropriate action, patterns of arrests, uneven handling of major cases, and "Distorted FIRs: ‘extraneous influences’, issue of transparency and integrity" as key factors in the incident(s).

Banerjee Committee

In September 2004, a panel appointed by the central government and headed by former Supreme Court judge UC Banerjee to probe the Godhra train fire concluded that the fire was accidental.^[101][102] Its findings were challenged by the BJP and the Gujarat inspector-general of police. In October 2006, the Gujarat High Court ruled that the panel was set up illegally, in violation of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952 which prohibits the setting up of separate commissions by state and central governments to probe a matter of public importance.^[103]

Concerned Citizens Tribunal

The citizen tribunal headed by retired Supreme Court justice Krishna Iyer collected evidence and testimony from more than 2000 riot victims, witnesses and others. In its report, the tribunal accuses the state government and chief minister Modi of complicity in the violeence.^[104][105]

Aftermath

Opposition parties as well as three coalition partners^[106] of the BJP-led central government demanded the dismissal of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for failing to contain the violence, with some calling for the removal of Union Home Minister L K Advani as well.^[107]

On July 18, the Modi government stepped down, dissolving the state assembly and calling for snap elections.^[108] The Indian Election Commission ruled out early elections, citing the prevailing law and order situation, a decision the union government unsuccessfully^[109] appealed against in the Supreme Court.^[110]

Elections were held in December and Modi was returned to power in a landslide victory.^[111]

The Gujarat government's developmental and economic work has won qualified praise from some Muslims and gains in local elections in Muslim-dominated areas such as the port-town of Sikka, Niyana town in Rajkot district, Pardi in Surendranagar and Arrod in Bharuch.^{[112][113][114]} Muslims are also reportedly looking increasingly to education to empower them since the riots.^[115]

Relief efforts

Amnesty International's annual report on India in 2003 claimed the "Gujarat government did not actively fulfill its duty to provide appropriate relief and rehabilitation to the survivors".^[71]

The state government initially offered compensation payments of 200,000 rupees to the families of those who died in the Godhra train fire and 100,000 rupees to the families of those who died in the subsequent riots, which local Muslims described as discriminatory.^[116] Subsequently, the government set the compensation amount at 150,000 rupees. ^[117]

By March 27, nearly 100,000 displaced people moved into 101 relief camps. This swelled to over 150,000 in 104 camps the next two weeks.^[29] The camps were run by community groups and NGOs, with the government committing to provide amenities and supplementary services. Drinking water, medical help, clothing and blankets were in short supply at the camps.^[118] At least another 100 camps were denied government support, according to a camp organiser.^[119] and relief supplies were prevented from reaching the camps over fears that they may be carrying arms.^[120]

Relief camp organisers alleged that the state government was coercing refugees to leave relief camps, with 25,000 people made to leave eighteen camps that were shut down. Following government assurances that camps would not be shut down, the Gujarat High Court bench ordered that camp organisers be given a supervisory role to ensure that the assurances were met.^[121]

Media coverage

Covering the first major communal riots following in the advent of satellite television to India, news channels set a precedent by identifying the community of those involved in the violence, breaking a long-standing practice.^[122]

The Gujarat government banned television news channels critical of the government's response. STAR News, Zee News, Aaj Tak, CNN as well as local stations were blocked.^[122]

Critical reporting on the Gujarat government's handling of the situation helped bring about the Indian government's intervention in controlling the violence.^[122]

Allegations have been made of deliberately loading the reports against Hindus and whitewashing the violence perpetrated by Muslims. The media, as well as several opinion makers, have been criticized for ignoring the causal connection between rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country and the resulting frustration of Hindus that led to the riots and falsely attacking Hindus as the sole cause and the sole perpetrators of the violence.^[123] Jayalalithaa Jayaram, general secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, also criticized the media and politicians for bias, saying "it is saddening and strange that when such acts are perpetrated against the minorities all political leaders rush to condemn. But when the majority is attacked, not a single political leader condemns it."^[124][125]

A group from the Editorial Guild of India rejected the charge that the graphic news coverage aggravated the situation, saying that the coverage exposed the "horrors" of the riots as well as the "supine if not complicit" attitude of the state, helping propel remedial action. The team also faulted Gujarati language papers Gujarat Samachar and the pro-Hindutva Sandesh of distorted and provocative reporting.^[122]

Columnist Rajeev Srinivasan of Rediff.com accused "the self-proclaimed 'intelligentsia'" of attempting to "mislead the public with its biased and one-sided perorations".^[126][127] He says that there is a decidedly Marxist,"Nehruvian" and anti-Hindu bias in the intelligentsia in India that leads them to believe that Hindu lives are "less valuable" than Muslim lives. This leads them to ignore the atrocities perpetrated by Islamic Fundamentalists against Hindus, as well as the Godhra Train Burning that precipitated the riots, and deflect attention away from them by focusing on the actions of the Hindus.^[126][127] The Godhra incident, however, received extensive news coverage until it was overtaken by the subsequent violence and the presentation of the Union budget.^[122]

BJP MP Balbir Punj has criticised an Arundhati Roy essay, pointing out a factual error in it, and accusing a "secular pack" in the media of hyperbole and sensationalising the riots as part of an agenda of what he calls 'defamation' and 'left wing anti-India propaganda'.^[128] Punj writes "She (Roy) terms Gujarat the 'petri dish' of the Sangh Parivar. The fact is that Godhra has been used as a crucible by the secular fundamentalists." Punj later continues, "Loss of 900-odd innocent lives (both Hindus and Muslims) is definitely not a 'genocide' of any one community". Punj also says, "The secular pack is not only guilty of parading half-truths but also of condoning and inciting violence".^[65]

In 2004, the weekly newspaper Tehelka published a hidden camera exposé alleging that a BJP legislator Madhu Srivastava bribed Zaheera Sheikh, a witness in the Best Bakery killings trial.^[129] Srivatsava denied the allegation,^[130] and an inquiry committee appointed by the Indian Supreme Court drew an "adverse inference" from the video footage, though it failed to uncover evidence that money was actually paid.^[131] In a 2007 expose, the newspaper released hidden camera footage of several members of the BJP, VHP and the Bajrang Dal admitting their role in the riots.^[132][133] Among those featured in the tapes was the special counsel representing the Gujarat government before the Nanavati-Shah Commission, Arvind Pandya, who resigned from his post after they were made public.^[134] While the report was criticized by some as being politically motivated,^{[135][136][137][138]} some newspapers said the revelations simply reinforced what was common knowledge.^{[139][140][141][133]} The Gujarat government blocked telecast of cable news channels broadcasting the expose, a move strongly condemned by the Editors Guild of India.^[142]

Controversies on the riots

Allegations of atrocities against women

There has been widespread public outrage regarding atrocities against women during the riots, including acts of rape, in respect of which FIRs were allegedly neither promptly nor accurately recorded, and the victims allegedly harassed and intimidated.

An international "fact finding committee" formed of experts from US, UK, France, Germany and Sri Lanka claimed that "Sexual violence was being used as a strategy for terrorising women belonging to minority community in the state.^[143]

Taking a stand decried by the media and other rights group, the National Commission for Women accused organisations and the media of needlessly exaggerating the plight of women victims of the riots. Nafisa Hussain, a member of the NCW, went on record saying that several organisations and the media have needlessly blown out of proportion the violence suffered by minority women in the communal riots of Gujarat.^{[144][145][146]} Other groups have challenged the stand of the NCW.The newspaper Tribune reported that "The National Commission for Women has reluctantly agreed to the complicity of Gujarat Government in the communal violence in the state." The tone of their most recent report was reported by the Tribune as "lenient".^[147]

Notes

External links

• Harsh Mander Cry, the Beloved Country: Reflections on the Gujarat Massacre.
• Democracy: Who is she when she's at home? by Arundhati Roy
• Fiddling with Facts as Gujarat Burns - Balbir Punj
• Destruction of Gujarat's Muslim heritage
• The full story of Kauser Bano
• Truth in Gujarat by Balbir Punj
• Godhra train fire conspiracy theory bogus, says counsel
• Lalu panel calls Godhra an accident, what about flaming rags, ask victims
• Godhra train carnage survivor says he heard blast
• “We Have No Orders To Save You”:State Participation and Complicity in Communal Violence in Gujarat- Human Rights Watch Report
• Politics By Other Means: An Analysis of Human Rights Watch Reports on India - Criticism of Human Rights Watch Report, Guest column for the South Asia Analysis Group
• The Hindu filmmaker Rakesh Sharma's documentary India: Final Solution portrays the nature and the milieu of the Gujarat Riots of 2002, playing the incident as instigated by Hindu ultranationalists, and perpetrated against innocent Muslim families. The film also provides background on the preceding Godhra massacre.Interview with Rakesh Sharma. BBC profile of India: Final Solution
  • Watch the documentary on Google Video
• Foreign missions: undiplomatic leaks - Allegations of anti-India media bias
• Time Cover Story on Gujarat Riots
• Pictures of Gujarat Riots
• Gujarat: Riots and Politics, Outlook dossier.
• Gujarat Riots, Indian Express full coverage
• The Gujarat Riots, Rediff News
• Gujarat Riots: The Aftermath, Hindustan Times
• Report on Godhra Riots, Justice Tewatia

Bibliography

• Agsar Ali Engineer (2003). The Gujarat Carnage. Orient Longman. ISBN 8125024964.
• M. L. Sondhi, Apratim Mukarji (2002). The Black Book of Gujarat. Manak Publications. ISBN 8178270609.
• Siddharth Varadarajan (2002). Gujarat, the Making of a Tragedy. Penguin Books. ISBN 0143029010.